Turkmenistan Plans to Triple Natural Gas Production by 2015

Turkmenistan, holder of the world’s fourth-largest natural gas reserves, plans to increase output of the fuel to 125 billion cubic meters a year in 2015, according to a posting on the state website reports Bloomberg. Turkmen production fell by half to 36.4 billion cubic meters in 2009, according to BP Plc data, after a pipeline explosion and a collapse in global demand halted deliveries to Russia. Companies such as Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp. have opened offices in Turkmenistan in the past several years seeking to participate in gas development. The country plans to add 30 billion cubic meters of annual production from contracts signed to develop the South Yoloten field, according to the website. It didn’t give a timeframe. The country retains goals to increase gas production to 250 billion cubic meters a year and oil output to 110 million metric tons a year (2.2 million barrels a day) by 2030, according to the statement.